Indigenous Australian poet and political activist
Lionel Fogarty (born 1958), also published as Lionel Lacey , is an
Indigenous Australian poet and political activist.
Early life
Fogarty was born in 1958 on an
Aboriginal reserve at Barambah (now called
Cherbourg ) in
Queensland , where he grew up.
[1] He is of the
Yoogum (Yugambeh) and Kudjela (?) peoples.
[2]
Activism
Fogarty was involved in Aboriginal activism from his teenage years, including involvement with such organisations as
Aboriginal Legal Service , Aboriginal Housing Service,
Black Resource Centre , Black Community School and Murrie Coo-ee.
[2] He worked mainly in southern Queensland on issues such as
land rights , Aboriginal health and
deaths in custody . His brother, Daniel Yock, died in the back of a police van shortly after being arrested, in 1993.
[3]
Fogarty met activist
Cheryl Buchanan (born 1955
[4] ), later the mother of his six children, in
Melbourne , who was working with the
National Union of Australian University Students (NUAUS).
[5] He assisted in publishing the newspaper Black News Service
[6]
[7] (1975–1977), originally out of the
Black Resource Centre (BRC) in
Melbourne (supported by the NUAUS
[5] ) and later from
Brisbane .
[8] Buchanan had been involved in the setup of the
Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972,
[9] and became inaugural director of the BRC. The centre later moved to Brisbane.
[4] Buchanan also took him up to
Aurukun festival and to meet
Mapoon people whose land near
Weipa had been taken from them in the 1930s and 1940s.
[5]
The BRC was involved in the defence and acquittal of the "Brisbane Three"
[4] in 1975. Fogarty was one of the three: he faced charges of conspiracy against the state in Brisbane, along with
Denis Walker and Chilean national John Garcia.
[5]
[4]
[10] The charges, which had been laid by then premier of Queensland
Joh Bjelke-Petersen 's Special Branch
[11] in 1974, were on various offences relating to an alleged plot to "kidnap" Jim Varghese,
students' union president at the
University of Queensland .
[10]
After this, Fogarty started writing on political issues.
[5]
As well as travelling around Australia promoting
Murri culture and Aboriginal causes, in 1976 he travelled to the Second
International Indian Treaty Council in
South Dakota , United States, part of the
American Indian Movement . In the
International Year for the World's Indigenous People in 1993, Fogarty went on an extensive tour in Europe, reading his work.
[2]
Poetry
His poetry can be seen as an extension of this activism; common themes include the maintenance of traditional
Aboriginal culture and the effects of
European occupation . His work has been described as "experimental", and sometimes "
surrealist ". He uses
Aboriginal language in his poetry, partly as an attempt to extend the dialogue between Australian cultures.
[12]
Fogarty has been involved with not-for-profit poetry organisation, The Red Room Company, participating in Unlocked, a program for inmates in
New South Wales correctional centres, as well its creative projects including Clubs and Societies and The Poet's Life Works .
[13]
Recognition and awards
2023: Shortlisted,
Prime Minister's Literary Awards , Poetry Award for Harvest Lingo
[14]
2023: Winner,
Queensland Literary Awards , Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection for Harvest Lingo
[15]
2023: Shortlisted,
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards , Indigenous Writers' Prize
[16]
2023: Shortlisted,
Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing for Harvest Lingo
[17]
2016: Shortlisted,
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards ,
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
[2]
2015:
Kate Challis RAKA Award for Mogwie-Idan: Stories of the Land (2012)
[2]
2014: Shortlisted,
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards , Prize for Indigenous writing
[2]
2012:
Scanlon Prize for Indigenous Poetry , for Connection Requital .
[18]
[19]
2006:
Australian Council for the Arts – Promotional And Presentation Grant Award Literature Board
2996: Nominated,
NBC Banjo Awards , Poetry Prize, for New and Selected poems: Munaldjali, Mutuerjararera
[2]
1995:
Australian Council for the Arts – Travel Grant Award, toward promotional activities in UK, Italy and Spain
1994: Queensland OPAL Award – Murri Achievement (Writers) Award
1988:
FAW Patricia Weickhardt Award to an Aboriginal Writer
[20]
[21]
Selected works
Fogarty's works include:
[2]
Harvest Lingo (Giramondo, 2022)
[22]
Selected Works 1980-2016 (re.press, 2017)
[23]
Eelahroo (Long Ago) Nyah (Looking) Möbö-Möbö (Future) (Vagabond Press, 2014)
Mogwie-Idan: Stories of the Land (Vagabond Press, 2012)
Connection Requital (Vagabond Press, 2010)
Yerrabilela Jimbelung: Poems About Friends and Family , with
Yvette Walker
[24] and Kargun Fogarty
[25] (Keeaira Press, 2008)
Minyung Woolah Binnung: What Saying Says (Keeaira Press, 2004)
New and Selected Poems: Munaldjali, Mutuerjaraera (Hyland House, 1995)
Booyooburra: A Tale of the Wakka Murri with illustrations by Sharon Hodgson (Hyland House, 1993)
Jagera (Murri Coo-ee, 1990)
Ngutji (Murri Coo-ee, 1984)
Kudjela (Murri Coo-ee, 1983)
Yoogum Yoogum (Penguin, 1982)
Kargun (Murri Coo-ee, 1980)
References
^
"Lionel Fogarty (1958 – )" , Australian Poetry Library , archived from
the original on 10 March 2015
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Lionel Fogarty" . AustLit . 13 November 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2021 .
^
"Marchers pay a silent tribute to Daniel Yock. A peaceful 4000" . The Canberra Times . 18 November 1993. p. 17.
^
a
b
c
d Kovacic, Leonarda; Lemon, Barbara (12 February 2019).
"Buchanan, Cheryl (1955– )" .
The Australian Women's Register . First created 27 July 2005. Retrieved 1 October 2022 .
^
a
b
c
d
e Fogarty, Lionel (31 January 2019).
" 'The Rally Is Calling': Dashiell Moore Interviews Lionel Fogarty" . Cordite Poetry Review (Interview). Interviewed by Moore, Dashiell. p. 1. Retrieved 1 October 2022 .
^ Grieve-Williams, Victoria (28 June 1969). "2: 'We have survived the white man's world': A critical review of Aboriginal Australian activism in media and social media". In Guntarik, Olivia; Grieve-Williams, Victoria (eds.).
From Sit-Ins to #revolutions: Media and the Changing Nature of Protests .
ISBN
9781501336959 . Retrieved 1 October 2022 – via dokumen.pub.
^ Guntarik, Olivia; Grieve-Williams, Victoria, eds. (2020).
From Sit-Ins to #revolutions: Media and the Changing Nature of Protests . Bloomsbury Publishing.
ISBN
978-1-5013-3696-6 . Retrieved 1 October 2022 – via Google Books.
^ Burrows, Elizabeth Anne (2010).
Writing to be heard: the Indigenous print media's role in establishing and developing an Indigenous public sphere (PhD).
Griffith University .
doi :
10.25904/1912/3292 . Retrieved 1 October 2022 .
PDF
^
"Australia Day under a beach umbrella" . Collaborating for Indigenous Rights .
National Museum Australia . 22 July 2008. Archived from
the original on 17 March 2012.
^
a
b
"Committee for the Defence of the Brisbane Three: Ephemera" .
Fryer Library Manuscripts .
University of Queensland . Retrieved 1 October 2022 .
^ McIlroy, Jim (18 January 2018).
"Vale Denis Walker, Aboriginal freedom fighter" . Green Left . Retrieved 1 October 2022 .
^ Hall, Matthew (2018).
"Forced Poetics in Lionel G. Fogarty's "Disguised, not attitude" and "Bam Gayandi" " . Antipodes . 32 (1–2): 209–223.
doi :
10.13110/antipodes.32.1-2.0209 .
ISSN
0893-5580 .
JSTOR
10.13110/antipodes.32.1-2.0209 .
^
"Lionel Fogarty biography" . The Red Room Company. Retrieved 20 September 2012 .
^
"Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2023 shortlists announced" . Books+Publishing. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023 .
^
"Winners of the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards announced" . Media statements . Queensland Government. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023 .
^
"Harvest Lingo" . State Library of NSW . 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023 .
^
"VPLAs 2023 shortlists announced" . Books+Publishing . 9 January 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023 .
^
"Lionel Fogarty" . Monash Indigenous Studies Centre . Retrieved 24 February 2021 .
^
"CRISIS!" . 1856 . Retrieved 24 February 2021 .
^
Heiss, Anita (2003).
Dhuuluu-Yala: To Talk Straight - Publishing Indigenous Literature . Aboriginal Studies Press. p. 150.
ISBN
978-0-85575-444-0 . Retrieved 7 November 2023 .
^
"FAW Patricia Weickhardt Award to an Aboriginal Writer" .
AustLit . Retrieved 13 February 2020 .
^ Kinsella, John (23 July 2022).
"Harvest Lingo" . The Saturday Paper . Retrieved 2 February 2023 .
^
"Lionel Fogarty Selected Poems 1980-2017" . re-press.org . Retrieved 1 June 2022 .
^ Austlit.
"Yvette Walker | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories" . www.austlit.edu.au . Retrieved 1 June 2022 .
^ Austlit.
"Kargun Fogarty | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories" . www.austlit.edu.au . Retrieved 1 June 2022 .
Further reading
International National Other